The Tinfoil Hat is Off Still Nearby

After some discussions with individuals more familiar with me over how voting machines work, and after learning some more about ES&S and their ties to both prominent Republicans and to Diebold, I'm once again considering a re-entry into the Tinfoil Hat range on the possibility of widespread election fraud in Ohio and Florida.

This post on Democratic Underground is speeding up the process:

We began to compare the special printouts given to us with the signed polling tapes from election night. Lo and behold, some were missing. We also found some that didn't match. In fact, in one location, precinct 215, an African-American precinct, the votes were off by hundreds, in favor of George W. Bush and other Republicans.

From the way I understand it, if there was the kind of widespread fraud that some suspect could've thrown this election (and that I believe is technologically possible), it would be very obvious to anyone who compares the numbers on an ES&S or Diebold machine with the ballot records at each individual precinct. This seems to be exactly what Beverly Harris and the folks at BlackBoxVoting.org are finding when they've been looking at the Volusia County data (and dealing with the many obstructions to their work).

The bottom line is that if there's a full recount in Ohio, we'll know for sure, and it's better we know for sure what happened than to allow this to become a source for conspiracy theorists over the next four years.